Specified systems and compliance schedules

If you own a building that contains a specified system such as a cable car, you must ensure they are effectively operated for the life of the building and in keeping with the council-issued compliance schedule.

A determination is a binding decision made by MBIE providing a way of solving disputes or questions about the rules that apply to buildings, how buildings are used, building accessibility, and health and safety.

BC Update 179: Release of joint MBIE/NZGS geotechnical guidance

This Building Controls Update is a periodic news bulletin for the building sector.

Joint MBIE/NZGS geotechnical engineering guidance, Module 1: Overview of the Guidelines of the `Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering Practice’ series, has now been published as Building Act s175 guidance. It is also available on the New Zealand Geotechnical Society (NZGS) website. This version is being issued for public comment. NZGS members are encouraged to make use of this document and return comments to the NZGS Secretary within six months for consideration by the editorial committee.

The guidelines are evolving from the single NZGS document published in July 2010 (Module 1 – Guideline for the identification, assessment and mitigation of liquefaction hazards) into a series of modules being developed in partnership by MBIE and NZGS.

This is the second of the new modules to be published; the first Module 5a, Specification of ground improvement for residential properties in the Canterbury region, was published in October 2015. A revised version of the existing Liquefaction module is now being finalised and will be published shortly. Due to the expansion of the series the numbering system has changed, and the old Module 1 will now become Module 3.

The full list of documents currently in preparation is as follows, and further modules are being planned:

About Us

This information is published by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Chief Executive. It is a general guide only and, if used, does not relieve any person of the obligation to consider any matter to which the information relates according to the circumstances of the particular case. Expert advice may be required in specific circumstances. Where this information relates to assisting people:

with compliance with the Building Act, it is published under section 175 of the Building Act

with a Weathertight Services claim, it is published under section 12 of the Weathertight Homes Resolution Services Act 2006.